President Donald J. Trump Is Fighting to End the Opioid Crisis That Has Devastated Too Many American Communities

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We will defeat this crisis, we will protect our beautiful children, and we will ensure that tomorrow is better, brighter, stronger, and greater than ever before.

President Donald J. Trump

FIGHTING THE OPIOID CRISIS: President Donald J. Trump’s effort to combat the opioid crisis is making progress and he remains committed to ensuring we end this crisis next door.

Last year, President Trump launched his Initiative to Stop Opioid Abuse and Reduce Drug Supply and Demand, a first-of-its-kind effort to draw out the factors fueling the opioid crisis and to make real change.

The Trump Administration has unveiled numerous programs across the Government since the President launched his initiative.

These programs range from health initiatives led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increased law enforcement through the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Last year, the President signed into law the overwhelmingly bipartisan SUPPORT Act.

President Trump has secured $6 billion in new funding over two years to fight opioid abuse.

The Administration is working with State, tribal, and local partners to address the opioid crisis in our communities, including awarding $1.5 billion annually in State Opioid Response grants.

The Administration provided teams of experts to assist States and providers with training and education on how best to address the crisis in their area.

HHS grant funding to combat this crisis went up 4-fold from FY 2016 to FY 2018, and will increase again this fiscal year.

DOJ has awarded more than $400 million over 2017 and 2018 to support treatment, prevention, and domestic law enforcement efforts.

The Trump Administration awarded the highest number of Drug-Free Communities Support Program grants in a single year in the program’s two-decade history.

These grants provided more than $90 million to community coalitions to help prevent substance use among youth.

President Trump’s efforts are producing results and he is committed to continuing the fight until we end this crisis.

The rising overdose death toll through September 2018, the latest month for which data is available, has flattened compared to November 2017, when we saw the peak 12-month mortality.

Nationwide, there has been an estimated 5 percent decrease in reported deaths since the same 12-month period a year ago.

Drug overdose deaths were down in the most recent 12-month reporting period compared to a year ago by an estimated 13 percent in New Hampshire, 20 percent in West Virginia, 11 percent in Iowa, 21 percent in Pennsylvania, and 22 percent in Ohio.

STOPPING DEADLY DRUG SUPPLIES: A vital part of President Trump’s efforts to stop opioid abuse is stopping the illicit drug supplies that are flooding into our communities.

The Trump Administration is working to cut off the deadly drug supplies that have helped fuel this devastating crisis.

More than 16,000 kilograms of heroin and nearly 5,000 kilograms of fentanyl have been seized in the United States since the beginning of 2017, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The Administration has stepped up funding and enhanced efforts to stop deadly drug supplies from flowing into our communities.

President Trump is following through on his commitment to crack down on the suppliers of deadly, illicit drugs like fentanyl—both in the United States and abroad.

President Trump secured a commitment from President Xi that China would take measures to prevent trafficking of Chinese fentanyl.

Last fall, President Trump called on other nations to join our efforts to stop the flood of illicit drugs into our communities, and more than 130 countries have joined us already.

President Trump’s efforts to secure our border are helping to stop deadly drugs from being brought into our country.

The Department of Homeland Security seized almost 5,000 pounds of fentanyl in FY 2018—totaling 1.2 billion lethal doses, or enough to kill every American four times.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizures of fentanyl alone are up 265 percent over the last two full fiscal years.

In 2018, President Trump established the first new High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program in 17 years to combat emerging threats in Alaska.

As a result, the program now has a footprint in all 50 States.

The Administration has cracked down on the distribution of deadly drugs over the internet, including shutting down the country’s biggest Darknet distributor of drugs.